Thomas Menino Biography

Thomas Menino, a significant person who changed Boston to a better place. He served more than 20 years as Boston mayor, passes away after a battle with cancer on October 30, 2014, at age 71. Thomas Menino served five terms in office, starting in 1993 and ending in January 2014, to become the city’s longest-serving mayor in Boston history. Thomas Menino was also the Boston's first Italian-American mayor, and his election ended decades of Irish dominance in the city's politics. The President Barack Obama says, "Bold, big-hearted, and Boston strong, Tom was the embodiment of the city he loved and led for more than two decades. As Boston's longest-serving mayor, Tom helped make his hometown the vibrant, welcoming, world-class place it is today.

That role gave him a ringside seat to Timilty’s three mayoral runs against Kevin White.“His first love was politics,” Timilty said. “Some people was baseball, some it was hockey. His was community service. His was politics. He loved it.” He ran in that first election in 1983 and was elected to the newly created 5th District seat, capturing 75 percent of the vote against Richard E. Kenney. He served the Hyde Park for nine years, sometimes running for re-election unopposed. In 1984, he became chairman of the City Council’s Planning and Development Committee and was appointed Chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee in 1988. In March 1993, then-Mayor Raymond Flynn accepted the position as the United States Ambassador to the Holy See, Menino who was President of the Boston City Council at the time took over as interim mayor and was elected to his first full term that November. In this election, Mr. Menino received 64.4 percent of the vote to Brett’s 35.6 percent, one of Boston’s largest mayoral victories in the latter part of the 20th century. He became the first Italian-American mayor in Boston history. Though hard fought, the campaign was mostly harmonious, and after it was finished, the candidates maintained a strong relationship. After he was first elected, the difference was apparent. Merino said he didn’t learn anything sitting in the office.

He said,“My No. 1 thing is bringing racial harmony to the city.” He welcomed immigrations, he wanted to see young people and people of color ascend to a position of leadership and what he did was working closely with communities of color to integrate them into the power base in the city. He appointed the first African-American woman as the chef of staff, and he improved the community service to satisfy the needs of immigrations. The Mayor’s Office of New Bostonians offered immigrants with a special connection to City Hall and helped him address immigrants’ concerns and keep abreast of the changing needs of Boston’s newest residents, while the creation of the Newcomers Academy within Boston Public Schools satisfied young people an opportunity to learn the English language skills they needed to thrive. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ken cooper said, "I loved when there would be an eruption of racial conflict of the bad old kind, he'd call it nonsense. 'This is not what we do in my city,' and I think it's a great credit to him. It makes social relations in the city much better, but it has other implications. It makes the business climate for investment much better, it makes it easier for businesses to recruit talent- and not just talent of color." During his time in office, Boston became a majority-minority city where